iPhone apps I’m testing – the second screen strategy!

September 13, 2011

I test a lot of iPhone apps. Partly I need to because of my job, but mainly I’m just eager to play with new stuff.

Several months ago I made the second screen on my iPhone (and iPad) a place where I test apps. My home screen is for the apps I use the most and having a screen for just the apps I’m testing has been helpful in keeping my app addiction under control. I won’t download a new app without first making room on my second screen, which usually means deleting ones I’m not using any longer. The rest of my apps are mostly stored in folders for later use.

Below is a list of the apps I’m playing with right now. Please share your test apps if you want, I always want to hear what others are playing with.

My iPhone “second screen” where I test new apps

Trover – likely deleting soon – Social sharing app that I was interested to play with, but so little content was being added to it that I lost interest. I would have stayed with it if more people had joined. Really nice interface, very solid app.

Uncrate – I discovered Uncrate on the iPad while using Flipboard. It’s a fun site that lists new, cool and often techy products. I’ll likely move this app into a “Shopping” folder on my iPhone since I use it somewhat frequently.

Tango – likely deleting soon – Free video calling on the iPhone…but never use it. No idea if it works great or not, probably does, just never found a reason to use the service unfortunately.

Crackle – likely deleting soon – This had promise but I just can’t yet find the time to watch video programming on the iPhone. Good in theory but doesn’t fit into my personal usage of my phone.

Socialcast – we use this one at Engauge to communicate amongst the DIG team. I’ll keep it though haven’t figured out where to move it yet. Doesn’t make the cut for the home screen but still an app I want top of mind so I remember to check out what DIG is up to.

Picplz – likely deleting soon – Another app to share photos through. Not a bad app but again, do I need another one of these? Can’t find a place for it in my life.

Messenger – This is Facebook’s messaging app. I really don’t use it much but randomly decided to use it yesterday when watching the US Open men’s final to talk about the match with friends. Like Socialcast, I just don’t know where to put this app yet but I’ll likely keep it. Anyone using this instead of the Facebook app itself?

Can’t Wait! – I’m a huge movie trailer junkie. I could watch trailers for an hour. So this app is pretty good for that, I’ll likely move it soon to the “Movies” folder.

Greplin – This is meant to be the “search bar for your life”. I honestly haven’t spent enough time with it to have a view point. Need to do that.

Ness – likely deleting soon – Recommended to me by a friend, this is another app in a long list of apps to help you discover new places to eat, visit, etc, around you. I somehow never have a need for these types of apps, so even though it has a really nice UI, probably not going to last much longer.

Squrl – I’m a big fan of this service in concept but for some reason find very little time to use this app. This will stay on the second screen for a while while I figure out what to do with it.

Hanging Free – likely deleting soon – I played this a ton for about a week, then never picked it up again. Was fun at the time but not gonna last much longer.

Mightybell – My new favorite site, blogged about it recently. Not sure yet if I will need the app, its really a great web experience, but I’ll keep it as long as I’m using the service.

Foodspotting – I like this app a lot though I can’t figure out if I want to use it over Instagram or Tumblr, and honestly often just use Foursquare when taking a pic at a restaurant. I’m going to keep this one around but not sure if it’s a long-term keeper.

Onefeat – This is the most recent addition to the list. It’s a service where people create tasks to accomplish. Seems really fun, still playing with it but not sure I’m going to keep up with it as it takes a lot of energy to get to the point where you can create tasks yourself (you have to be level 10 or something).